Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Janus, Terrorism and Peacemaking by Ron Dart

Janus, Terrorism and Peacemaking

For it was a witty and a truthful rejoinder which was given by a pirate to Alexander the Great. The King asked the fellow, ‘What is your idea, in infesting the sea?’ And the pirate answered with uninhibited insolence, ‘The same as yours, as in infesting the earth! But because I do it with a tiny craft, I’m called a pirate: Because you have a mighty navy, you’re called an emperor’.

St. Augustine City of God (Book IV, Chapter IV)

I

Emperors and Pirates

Janus was, in Roman myth, the god who had two faces, one at the front and the other at the back of his head. Janus looked in both directions, and, being able to do so, could not be taken in by a single perspective. The language of terrorism is very much with us these days, and the political use of the term has certainly intensified since 9-11. Janus can very much be a guide for us in this paper, as we ponder how the language of terrorism is employed, who uses it and to what end. In short, it is essential to gaze in all directions as we dissect the functional use of the language of terrorism.

The apt and insightful passage from St. Augustine in City of God mentioned above can, if heeded, clarify some often ignored realities. Terrorists are usually defined as those that threaten and disrupt the national security of the state. This does beg an important and significant question, though. What have been the decisions made by a state, at domestic and foreign policy levels, that threaten national security? The terrorists, like the pirates, are usually seen as the problem, but the state, like Alexander, is exempt from such questioning and scrutiny. And yet, it is often the state, like Alexander, that has much greater capacity to silence opposition and use greater violence against the pirates-terrorists.  Many states often, in domestic and foreign policy, oppress and terrorize others through the use of death squads and the military, but when those who have been terrorized dare to fight back (with fewer arms and less sophisticated technology), they are branded with the terrorist term. Alexander can inflict massive hardships and brutality on people, but because he is emperor, he cannot be defined as a terrorist. The small scale pirates that oppose the emperor are called the terrorists. This simple yet often ignored point must be held front and centre in our understanding of how ‘terrorism’ is used. The large and vicious sharks are not seen as such, but the smaller fish, when they, in their limited sort of way, attack the sharks, are seen as the enemies of state security.  Let me offer a few illustrations of this point.

Compassionate Fire -- Review by Ron Dart

Review: Compassionate Fire: The Letters of Thomas Merton & Catherine de Hueck Doherty (Indiana:  Ave Maria Press, 2009) ed. Robert Wild.

I owe much to Catherine

 Thomas Merton

Father Louis, in some strange mysterious way I never quite understood, was in part my spiritual son.

Catherine Doherty

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was one of the most significant writers on the contemplative life in the 20^th century, and his life and writings continue to have a meaningful impact on the lives of many. Catherine de Hueck Doherty (1896-1985) was almost twenty years Merton’s senior, but when they met at Friendship House in Harlem (NY) in 1941, a friendship was birthed that lasted until Merton’s untimely death in 1968. Robert Wild edited two books on Catherine de Hueck Doherty in 2009: Comrades Stumbling Along: The Friendship of Catherine de Hueck Doherty and Dorothy Day as Revealed through Their Letters and Compassionate Fire: The Letters of Thomas Merton & Catherine de Hueck Doherty.   

Sylvie Weil's 'At Home with Andre and Simone Weil' Review and Interview by Brad Jersak

Review

I've just finished reading At Home With Andre and Simone Weil. This heart-felt little work allows readers a personal glimpse into the family life and history of the sibling wonders, Andre and Simone Weil. Andre has been called the twentieth century’s ‘Einstein of mathematics’ and Simone is well known for her meteoric life as a philosopher-activist-mystic. Written by surviving family member and award-winning author, Sylvie Weil, At Home offers snippets of the genius, quirks, love, and obsessions of the Weil clan.

Most especially, we feel the tension of how Sylvie herself experiences the oft-bitter privilege of her role as Simone’s look-alike niece—a sort of living relic with the burden and weirdness that her memory imposes. The author accomplishes all of this, weaving humorous, tender and sometimes painful anecdotes in her beautifully Jewish way. I savored At Home over the course of days, each chapter gifting me with new feelings and surprises. The first word that came to me was 'delicious!' But then also ‘excruciating’ and in the end, 'astonishing.'

New Documentary Brings Hell Debate to the Big Screen

Kevin Miller, best known for co-writing the controversial Ben Stein vehicle "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," takes on hell in an upcoming documentary that goes into production this summer.

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 18, 2011 – Are any of us truly hellbound, or are we merely bound to the idea of hell? These are the questions Kevin Miller, best known as co-writer of the controversial film "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," is asking in his new feature-length documentary "Hellbound?" 

“While recent challenges to the traditional view of hell are grabbing headlines, most people recognize this controversy is nothing new,” says Miller. “For centuries, people have wondered, if God is our pure, all-loving Creator, how can he allow billions of sinners to suffer for eternity in hell? Is it possible we’ve got hell wrong? Or are recent attempts to find a way around traditional teachings on hell a vain attempt to avoid the inevitable? These are the questions I want to explore.” 

'Raids on the Unspeakable' - Thomas Merton (excerpt)

Law is consistent.

Grace is inconsistent.

The cross is the sign of contradiction--destroying the seriousness of the law, of the Empire, of the armies, of blood sacrifice, and of obsession.

But the magicians keep turning the Cross to their own purposes. Yes, it is for them too a sign of contradiction: the awful blasphemy of the religious magician who makes the Cross contradict mercy!

This of course is the ultimate temptation of Christianity!  To say that Christ has locked all the doors, has given one answer, settled everything and departed, leaving all life enclosed in the frightful consistency of a system outside of which there is seriousness and damnation, inside of which there is the intolerable flippancy of the saved--while nowhere is there any place left for the mystery of the freedom of divine mercy which alone is truly serious, and worthy of being taken seriously.'

Beauty will save the world: A Word about Supplementary Education by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

There is a certain moral content to beauty. We do not mean the kind of moralism which is purely religious. The appreciation of and love for beauty is a quality which enhances our humanity and softens our perspectives. Perhaps this is what Dostoevskyhad in mind when he said that "beautywill save the world."

When we speak about supplementary education we are generally referring to art, art appreciation, music, danceand culture. All of these things have to do with the true meaningof virtue. Virtue (arete in Greek) does not refer to an ascetic mode of life but rather to an aesthetic perspective on life. If a sculptor creates a beautiful sculpture in orderto make moneyfrom it, then it is business. However, if he is seeking to use his skills to create a thing of beauty then it is virtue. Just as the sharpness of a knife is its virtue so the development and use of our natural gifts and abilities in a creative way is the true meaning of virtue.

On the Essence of True Morality -- by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

True morality consists far more in how well we care for one another than in what kind of external behaviour we wish to force on other people. Too often, moralism is confused with morality, but they are far from being the same. The moralistic notion that Christianity has a duty to try to force one or another denomination’s understanding of biblical morality on any nation or community is quite destructive and usually leads to persecutions and violence. People with such ideas will usually ignore the Gospel itself and rummage through the Old Testament seeking a bludgeon to use against someone or some group. Another construct that appears to be problematic is focussing the whole concept of morality on sexual matters, often to the exclusion of other very serious issues. One of the greatest moral problems in our era is the destruction of the environment, and this is rooted in egoism and self-centredness. These two, egoism and self-centredness (or "self-love") are the very bases of all that is genuinely immoral, and moralism itself is a form of egoism and self-focus.